Today has been a more difficult day. Both kids are fine with the older dogs: Murray and Mcgee but are afraid of Hank our 1 year old Shitzu and Annie our 2 1/2 year old golden doodle. Granted they are younger and more excitable and rambunctous.
Sasha has taken to kicking. When I try to explain to him that he can't kick (especially the dogs) he gets mad, pouts, stomps and will go to his room and lock the door. I now have all the bedroom doors locked so he can't get in and lock himself in. I know the language barrier is frustrating for both of them. It is for me and I am a grown-up who understands that this is part of the process and it will pass.
I finally decided to keep Hank and Annie in the barn for the remainder of the day and when I went into the barn I heard this little tiny mewing sound from under Dave's Kubota. I thought that maybe Bella (our smallest cat) was trapped under it somehow. But after calling and coaxing- to my huge surprise a very tiny grey and white kitten came out from under. Well, as you can imagine mama mode kicked in and now Kosh-ke (russian for cat) has a bed and food and drink in the barn. What cracked me up is how Dave spent at least 1/2 hour out there with him last night. When I asked him why he was out there so long he said Kosh-ke was very lonely and needed attention. Awe...
After dinner (which for the kids was buttered noodles, carrot sticks, cherry tomatos, and homemade applesauce) we went into town for ice-cream. Not knowing what flavor they would like we started with vanilla. We will have to try others as language develops and likes and dislikes become known. Woodland sweets also has a big safe fenced in playscape. With the exception of one big sulking session (because S had to wait for miss M to finish her ice cream) the night ended up well.
No idea how I got the butterfly image there and can't figure out how to rotate an image from my card to blogger. So apologies on having to bend 90 degrees to the left and enjoy the butterfly (from Meijer gardens back in April).
4 comments:
Great to see an update!! I love the photos of the kids on their bikes and the tractor; adorable. They are are all smiles and I love it. You knew their would be some growing pains...but you guys are doing great. I can't imagine what it must be like for them to be in such a new and different place. Scary and great all at once. We think of you everyday (and blog-stalk of course). We will call next week and see if it is ok for a visit.
BIG, BIG hugs and lots of love,
Heidi
I would love a visit. I called Nina (translater) today and will visit with her tomorrow.
Aaahhh, I remember the kicking. Karina did that and more. I will tell you how I dealt with it. Karina was so thrilled with her new shoes (and truth be told I had gone overboard and bought like eight pairs of sandals, gym shoes, dress shoes) that when she kicked I told her she would lose her shoes for the day. It worked for her. This was a sad and upsetting consequence for her. She would literally have to go barefoot for the rest of the day. And of course she was asked why she didn't have shoes on if we went to the store or whatever. Obviously I didn't make her walk around outside with no shoes on - I had to pick her up and take her to the car, from the car to the shopping cart in the store, etc. But I held firm to this rule. She kicked three times once I started it and never again. If it is no big deal to Sasha to lose his shoes for the day then it won't work. But if he takes pride in his new things, which he probably does since it is his first experience owning stuff that is just his own, then it might work for you too. Also, there is the extra added benefit that when barefoot you remove their ability to do any real damage by kicking.
Hey Kari!
Love the pictures - especially the ones with ice cream! Yummo!
Greg and I keep saying how hard the language difference will be. You are living it. It will come, time is everything, but still has got to be completely frustrating. Noah talks a lot and we are using our crutch (aka Olga) to understand, but we know it will be very difficult when he comes home.
Grace doesn't talk and we find it fairly easy to communicate with her through nonverbal communication and she catches on more quickly than Noah because he uses language.
Blessings,
MaryAnn
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